Merging and Splitting of Media Composition Files

1. A method of allocating time-based media essence among a set of reels that comprise a media composition, each reel comprising a plurality of media essence files, each media essence file having a corresponding compositional metadata file that references the media essence file corresponding to the compositional metadata file, the method comprising: displaying a graphical representation of the set of reels and of the compositional metadata files that reference media essence files within each reel of the set of reels, each reel of the set of reels including media essence files that include media essence corresponding to a temporal range within the media composition spanned by the reel, and wherein a temporal relationship among temporal ranges spanned by each reel of the set of reels is reflected in a displayed spatial arrangement of the graphical representation of the reels and of the compositional metadata files referencing the media essence files within each reel; and enabling a user to interact with the displayed graphical representation of the set of reels to change temporal ranges of the set of reels by adjusting a graphically represented boundary between a pair of reels that comprise media essence files corresponding to adjacent temporal ranges of the media composition; and automatically updating contents of each reel having an adjusted boundary to include media essence files corresponding to their respective adjusted temporal ranges and updating the graphical representation to display media metadata files within reels having adjusted temporal ranges.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation of the set of reels and of the compositional metadata files forms a part of a user interface of a digital audio workstation.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the time-based media essence files include media essence representing at least one of audio dialog, music, and sound effects.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation of the set of reels and of the compositional metadata files forms a part of a user interface of a non-linear video editing system.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the time-based media essence files include media essence representing video.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation of the set of reels and of the compositional metadata files displays compositional metadata data files referencing media essence files in temporal order from left to right.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein, for each compositional metadata file, a left end and a right end of a graphical representation of the compositional metadata file corresponds to a start time and an end time respectively of a time span of the media essence referenced by the compositional metadata file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting a graphically represented boundary between a pair of reels representing temporally adjacent time spans includes using a pointing device to drag the boundary left or right, wherein: dragging the boundary to the left causes content of an ending time span of a first reel of the pair of reels to be removed from the first reel and causes the removed content to be added as a beginning time span of a second reel of the pair of reels; and dragging the boundary to the right causes content of a beginning time span of the second file of the pair of reels to be removed and causes the removed content to be added as an ending time span of the first reel of the pair of reels.

9. A computer program product comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer program instructions encoded thereon, wherein the computer program instructions, when processed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform a method of allocating time-based media essence among a set reels that comprise a media composition, each reel comprising a plurality of media essence files, each media essence file having a corresponding compositional metadata file that references its corresponding media essence file, the method comprising: displaying a graphical representation of the set of reels and of the compositional metadata files that reference media essence files within each reel of the set of reels, each reel of the set of reels including media essence files that include, media essence corresponding to a temporal range within the media composition spanned by the reel, and wherein a temporal relationship among temporal ranges spanned by each reel of the set of reels is reflected in a displayed spatial arrangement of the graphical representation of the reels and of the compositional metadata files corresponding to the media essence files within each reel; and enabling a user to interact with the displayed graphical representation of the set of reels to change temporal ranges of the set of reels by adjusting a graphically represented boundary between a pair of reels that comprise media essence files corresponding to adjacent temporal ranges of the media composition; and automatically updating contents of each reel having an adjusted boundary to include media essence files corresponding to their respective adjusted temporal ranges and updating the graphical representation to display media metadata files within reels having adjusted temporal ranges.